Practice Strokes
by Irakih
Summary: Koushirou comes for Jou's tutoring, but who's helping who here? *Jou x Koushirou*


Practice Strokes

* * *

Drip, drop. Now only a small black dot marred the smooth surface of the table. Careful fingers paused, but still decided to go ahead. There was a stroke, then another, and the at last the finishing-

"Jou-san."

"Ah- AH!" Jou stared at table again. Instead of a single dot, a long black smear ran all the way across the table. "Noo! What am I going to do?

"That's problematic. I suppose you can't just leave it that way," Koushirou commented.

"No... Mom works so hard to keep things clean. I can't let it dry. I'll just..."

Jou ran his finger across the table, across the smear, and suddenly knocked right into Koushirou, who had been wiping it up with a tissue. "Ah, I'm sorry!" Jou shouted, putting a hand to his forehead.

"Jou-san..." Koushirou said with a sigh.

"Huh? What is it?"

"Now your hand... And also your face."

"My... Oh, no, now I'm going to look like a total idiot."

"It'll be fine, Jou-san."

"Huh?"

"I'll take care of it for you."

Jou sat by like a lump as Koushirou went into the kitchen and came back. "This should help," he said. He spread a white powder over the table, then began scrubbing with a damp cloth.

"Sorry, Koushirou. You came all the way over here for me to help you study kanji, but instead you end up helping me with my own clumsiness."

"Don't worry, it happens," Koushirou said. Carefully working, he soon wiped the table clean, leaving it as spotless as it had been when Jou first began his little project. "Now, let's take care of you. Where's your first aide kit, Jou-san?"

"Um, it's over in that cabinet, but it's not like I got hurt or anything."

Koushirou said nothing, but obviously heard Jou as he soon took out the kit, and examined its contents before putting a solution onto a bit of cotton.

"What... What are you doing?" Jou asked.

"I'm just.... Can I have your hand?" Koushirou asked.

"Huh?!" Jou said. "Uh, why?"

"Come on... You want to get cleaned up, right?"

"Oh yeah," Jou said, and held out his hand. The cotton felt cold, but Koushirou's hand was warm. He firmly held onto Jou, and yet the touch seemed so gentle in Jou's experience. Jou closed his eyes, enjoying the sensation.

"Um, could you lean down a bit now, Jou-san?"

"Um, sure!" Jou leaned down. Koushirou soon stroked his forehead, where the mark was. He worked diligently, not even noticing that Jou's increased rate of breathing and slight sweat even from the few inches apart they were.

"All finished there," Koushirou said. "Why are you all red? You didn't have to hold your breath or anything, you know."

"Um... Yeah," Jou said. Koushirou was so clueless, it was no wonder he'd never dated before. That quality in itself was kind of cute though. Jou snickered, thinking of how Koushirou could be so smart and yet so naïve.

"Jou-san."

"Yeah?" Jou quickly stopped daydreaming.

"Can we begin studying again, now?"

"Yes, of course!" Jou frantically began to search for materials.

"Maybe it's best if we just use plain notebook paper and a pencil. Calligraphy can be a challenging craft alone."

"Right, of course," Jou laughed nervously.

As Jou cleaned up his kit, Koushirou took out his practice book and began. Finishing, Jou sat down next to him and took a look. "Um... Your penmanship is..."

"Terrible," Koushirou finished for him.

"Well, I wouldn't-"

"It's perfectly fine for you to point it out. I don't get much practice. Handwritten things are currently pointless, I think. Why bother making all these lines when a few simple keystrokes will get the same result? Not even the same, a far cleaner one."

"Well, you can't always type things."

"You can everywhere that really matters."

"Yeah, maybe... Bet you're glad I'm here to help you with these pointless things, huh?"

"I didn't mean it that way."

"It's okay. Well, that last character you did, you made one mistake with the stroke order. It's actually..." Jou paused, imagining taking Koushirou's hand and pressing against him in order to show him... No, he wasn't quite ready for that. Instead, Jou only pointed. "This part should be done after this stroke."

"I just think it's easier this way... But of course, you're right Jou." Koushirou began making the Kanji again, now using the correct stroke order.

"You're doing better now. Not great, but better. I guess you really didn't need my help at all."

"That's probably right," Koushirou said.

Jou's glasses slipped down his face with his exaggerated expression of disappointment.

"I just knew you occasionally tutored, and I really admire your persistence. I suppose I hoped it would wear off on me."

"Me wear off on you? You're like the most persistent person I know!"

"Not really..."

"Yes, really! I remember how wrapped up you'd get in solving problems back in the digital world..."

"Solving puzzles is something I like to do, something I'm good at, and that's what it was like to me. But you're persistent even with activities you aren't good at. I envy that."

"Did you like cleaning up after my mess, then cleaning me off like a grade schooler? Was that fun? Because you even seemed to get caught up with that," Jou said.

"Um... That. Well, I didn't mind it."

Jou straightened his glasses. Was he imaging things? Though Koushirou sat turned around and facing his work, Jou could swear he saw a blush.


End file.
